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My second multitrack video taqsim: Saba LAMENTATION

fernandraynaud - 11-15-2009 at 07:50 AM

I agonized over some aspects of this one. As the e-bay oud salesmen would say, "It's really a work of art that took a long time to make."

Video: Can you comment please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbxjsNXN8eQ

Of course it's not jolly, Saba is not jolly. The beautiful San Francisco Bay at times also feels huge, dark and threatening. The video was in fact shot after the last earthquake, the autobahn collapsed, some people died, the bay bridge was damaged, and you had to cross by ferry boat.

I'm studying maqamat, it's a great enrichment, as is present company. I don't claim to know or play "Arabian music". Yet I think this piece illustrates the Saba maqam, much as a traditional Taqsim does, and it is all improvised, by one person, so it's probably a bona fide Saba Taqsim, even if not a traditional Arabian one.

An anticipated comment is that the oud is not loud enough, but solo'd oud wasn't the objective, the idea was to make one texture out of 3 instruments. BTW, my wife sat down to play the harpsichord and thought the (deliberate) Saba tuning was drift due to the change in the weather, she said the slippage was "really really terrible this time, especially E flat" and asked me to come tune it

Percussion was used as a sort of antidote to gloom.

Comments are appreciated. A good rating (click on the little strip of stars immediately below the viewing box, on the left) apparently helps a clip become more available to others.

But I'm really curious how fellow-oudies here will react to this piece. Thank you for taking the time.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbxjsNXN8eQ

(No longer current) I have tried EVERYTHING to get rid of the scantily dressed bellydancer in "Related Videos" with her butch women friends hooting and whistling in the background. I find these clips embarrassing, and not at all "related". I have uploaded my clip a dozen times under new names, changed the title, changed the description. She keeps coming back like a bad dream. Floorwork Taxim ? Is that like waxing the kitchen floor? WHY? Did she PAY to be preferred? It's almost funny. I feel sorry for people who upload clips e.g. with little bunnies for children and have these sorts of "related" clips show up.

FLIPAX - 11-15-2009 at 10:23 AM

I Like It! :applause:

Fusion is the Way to go.........

Hope others like it also....

I like how the percussions sits at the background.

Cheers

Philip :airguitar:

Aymara - 11-15-2009 at 12:54 PM

Hi Tony,

very nice and phantastic sound quality.

Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud

An anticipated comment is that the oud is not loud enough, ...

The mix is perfect.

Quote:

BTW, my wife sat down to play the harpsichord and thought the Saba tuning was due to the change in the weather, she said it was "really really terrible this time, especially E flat"

I would call it a November tune

Quote:

Comments are appreciated.

Maybe the video causes this, but I could imagine this piece as a film music.

Quote:

Is that like waxing the kitchen floor? WHY? Did she PAY to be preferred?

Maybe she answered to the newspaper advertisement: "Cleaning slave wanted"

But this bellydance isn't bad though.

Quote: Originally posted by FLIPAX

Fusion is the Way to go.........

Yes, Fusion is inspiring. In the late 70ies I was a Fusion Jazz fan.

FLIPAX - 11-15-2009 at 01:40 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Aymara

Yes, Fusion is inspiring. In the late 70ies I was a Fusion Jazz fan.

I'm also a Big Fan of Jazz Fusion! :xtreme:

Philip

Sazi - 11-15-2009 at 02:01 PM

I like it too, and it would sit well with your nahawand piece on a cd. I liked the change in feel when the percussion came in, look forward to the next one

mrkmni - 11-15-2009 at 02:46 PM

Nice job Mr Raynaud, the mixage is perfect. However I see you playing the piano but there is no piano sound..
It seems that the bellydancers like you....In my case I have Munir Bashir, I cant complain.
Regards!

Aymara - 11-15-2009 at 03:33 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mrkmni

However I see you playing the piano but there is no piano sound...

... because it's a harpsichord

... the grandfather of the piano. Listen again and you'll hear it.

FLIPAX - 11-15-2009 at 06:46 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Aymara

... Listen again and you'll hear it.

Nice Comment Chris!

I listen to it again, you maybe have a point here.

BTW i just want to congrats! Mr Tony :applause:

What a beautiful music he has to offer here.

P:S:

Sir did You read My message. I sent u a U2U regarding Rishas

Salamat

Flip :airguitar:

fernandraynaud - 11-15-2009 at 07:13 PM

Yes, it's a harpsichord. In the photo belows it's the harpsichord on the left. The one on the right is being worked on, the strings are off and you can see the (white) jacks that hold the tiny little Delrin plectra that pluck the strings when you press a key. The little red flags are the felt dampers that descend and quiet the string when you release the key. Just a you wouldn't call a technician to come work on your oud, most harpsichord players do their own maintenance. The harpsichord's volume does not respond to how hard you hit the keys, and dynamics are created by a specific manipulation of timing and note density.

The rectangular box in the background is a very interesting instrument, a clavichord, which uses little brass bars to strike the strings instead of plucking them. The clavichord coexisted with the harpsichord for centuries. As with ouds, some superb instruments are being made now based on old models. It's a very expressive instrument because your strike directly controls the volume, and you can also bend the strings by pushing down on the key. But it's a very quiet instrument, not suitable for concert halls, and very few good recordings exist because recording engineers insist on placing microphones too far in the room like a harpsichord, though nobody ever used a Clavichord for entertaining a crowd. Clavichords were widely used as home keyboards and personal instruments by composers, as late as the early 19th century. Mozart's clavichord had a note from his wife attached, that he had composed the Magic Flute and The Requiem on this instrument. I love the clavichord, and as soon as I replace the strings that I broke on it when retuning a bit too fast, I'll do a piece for oud and clavichord.

Thanks for the comments. As to the issue of 1970s "fusion" I found it lacking in meat, and hopefully what I'm exploring here has a little more substance. Yes, Philip, I got your note. I lost the bellydancer for a moment, she'll probably be BAAAACk.

[file]12327[/file]

mrkmni - 11-15-2009 at 07:18 PM

Sorry for my ignorance ; when I red harpsichord i thaught it was A simple harp which I love to hear...even though th esound was slightly different... at wikipedia they say that it disappered in the 18 century

..
Congratulation again about the nice harmony.

Aymara - 11-16-2009 at 01:55 AM

Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud

As to the issue of 1970s "fusion" I found it lacking in meat, ...

That might depend on the bands you listen to. Let's take Weather Report for example ... they revolutionized Jazz and had a broad spectrum of styles ... their debut album e.g. was more Free Jazz than Fusion ... and they got a record contract before even one note was recorded, because all musicians were famous before.

Quote: Originally posted by mrkmni

Sorry for my ignorance ...

Don't worry ... many people don't know this instrument nowadays and that the string are plucked and not hammered as on the piano.

Quote:

... at wikipedia they say that it disappered in the 18 century

I would say, it lost popularity. It's still played by a few musicians with a faible for historic music.

fernandraynaud - 11-16-2009 at 04:14 AM

I never considered Weather Report "fusion", it was simply "jazz". What was called fusion here was an easy-listening blend of simple rock beats with jazzy chords. David Sanborn. Pat Martino. Lee Ritenour. It's still a popular style under new names.

In the US there's a thriving little community of luthiers who make truly excellent harpsichords and clavichords. Look for instance at

http://www.jph.us/
http://www.garyblaise.com/html/harpsichords.html
http://www.kevinfryer.net/

the waiting list for a john philips is several years.

look at the used ones:
http://www.harpsichord.com/List/list_frmset.html

Hardly any weekend passes in our area without at least a couple of small but good baroque music concerts.

Aymara - 11-16-2009 at 05:00 AM

Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud

It's still a popular style under new names.

In Germany we called Weather Report, Chick Corea, Billy Cobham and others' style Jazz Rock, which later was called Fusion Jazz, maybe because John Mc Laughlin and others also combined Jazz with World Music.

Lee Ritenour and the other easy-listening Jazzers are a different league. This commercial Jazz is still popular here in opposition to Jazz Rock. In Germany we have a new trend called Nu Jazz ... stupid name

... and it's not really new.

What I find more revolutionary is Nik Baertsch's Ronin ... their album STOA is a real masterpiece ... but some listerners might find the monotonie boring.

Quote:

look at the used ones

Interesting ... I would have expected even higher prices.

fernandraynaud - 11-20-2009 at 06:46 PM

Can someone do me a favor, please?

I see a significant number of views on this clip with no comments. Of course, it's easiest to not comment.

So I imagine that for many people here it's either "not correct as a Taqsim" or "not Arabic", or maybe just "boring", or maybe "not well-played on the oud" or "bad idea" or maybe just "who cares" or something.

Our group here is of course very traditionally oriented. But I'd like to know how such a group reacts to music of such a sort.

Thanks!

David.B - 11-21-2009 at 04:04 AM

Strange feeling when I finished to to listen to your clip... Painful.

Quote: Originally posted by fernandraynaud

Percussion was used as a sort of antidote to gloom.

To me percussion does not resolve the gloom, it accentuates the drama ! All your percussions work like a cold machine of war through a field of ruins and death (the sound which Saba evokes to me through the melodic instruments). Kind of Terminator walking over the ruins of the apocalypse. To me it sounds experimental, and following this way interesting. But if you're looking for a feeling of happiness through percussions try Alla's percussion to catch what I mean : many light and loud textures without specific metric,

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=319037&l=b99f53d9ab&i...

Adapted to your style on melodic instruments it would sound expressive, like arabesques on arabesques :rolleyes:

David.B - 11-21-2009 at 04:19 AM

I put 5 stars on YouTube to support your work (even if I'm not 100% behind your choices

)

Aymara - 11-21-2009 at 01:31 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David.B

Kind of Terminator walking over the ruins of the apocalypse.

Like I said ... it could be a film music

A further reason might be the harpsichord ... that might sound strange to arabian ears.

Though this might be reasons, I wouldn't worry too much, because when I look through the sound clip forum, I see a lot of threads with minimal feadback.

Regarding feedback on Youtube ... I don't have an account there.

David.B - 11-22-2009 at 01:22 AM

Great minds think alike Chris

I must confess I love harpsichord : http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=9834

No, I think the cymbals are persisting and give a really mechanic movement (not the harpsichord), plus the sound which is really metallic.

Yes, fernandraynaud must be happy with so much feedback on the forum

I can't say the same about the last sound clip I posted here...

Aymara - 11-22-2009 at 03:06 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David.B

Yes, fernandraynaud must be happy with so much feedback on the forum

Yes ... next time more happy tunes and pictures of pin-up girls in the video and the feedback will be even better

David.B - 11-22-2009 at 10:59 AM

Be careful, Tony seems to bear a bellydancer a grudge, so a pin-up...